


Dinner Date

by lesbianmermaid



Category: Edgar Allan Poe's Murder Mystery Dinner Party (Web Series)
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-02
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2018-12-10 01:48:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11681472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbianmermaid/pseuds/lesbianmermaid
Summary: Lenore tries to save her brother from himself and Edgar fights her every step of the wayor, Lenore throws house parties to save Edgar's sanity





	1. Dinner with Disaster

**Author's Note:**

> This might be ooc, sorry this is au and my first time writing these characters  
> this story is kinda experimental so let me know what you think!

Dinner was going fabulous until Annabel decided to mention Lenore’s move.

“It seemed so sudden, I thought you had liked L.A?” Annabel asked with perfect sweet innocence that Lenore usually adored but today shunned. Ok that was totes emo, but you get the picture.

Lenore froze like a deer in headlights. Oh god, all her friends (and Eddie) she was supposed to be catching up with were looking at her with frank curiosity.

“Yes darling, do tell, I'm  _dying_ to know what made you hurry away like that!” Oscar exclaimed. Lenore cringed and tightened her fingers around her wine glass.

“Oh,  _that_. Yeah, uh nothing you know,  _exciting_ , just uh...family stuff, you know…” Lenore blustered her way through her excuse. She tried to seem nonchalant and play it off as no big deal, but she already knew her friends would treat it as a big deal. Lenore made a point not to go into her family drama with her friends. Ever.Her parents were long dead but it hadn’t always been that simple and her brother...even before what happened, Edgar was a mess. He was flighty, he moved all the time, he was dirt poor despite  _always_  working, his mental illness was  _always_  very present, he always, _always_  was asking for money (that had been the original cause of their previous strained relationship but she didn’t want to remember those times) and to top it all of Edgar had slowly become a drunk. Her friends knew the bare minimum about Lenore’s brother.In fact, the most that they have heard if him was that he exist. And she designed to keep it that way until she had better figured out her new standing with him. Edgar had always been her older brother and it was bizarre for him to now need her. Even when he begged her for money she never thought he needed her.

Lenore was pulled from her thoughts by Charlotte’s voice.

“Family? I thought you didn’t  _have_  family.” Charlotte stated in that slightly condescending voice that sometimes made Lenore want to strangle her.

“I don’t. Well, I don’t have a lot of family, or….look it’s not a big deal you guys. Look! I’m here! I told all of you that we’d still see each other a bunch! Can we go back to our drinks now?” Lenore pleaded with a little more force than she would of liked. She look a long drink of her wine and caught Annabel’s sad look.

“Is it Edgar?” Annabel asked in a quiet, soft voice. Lenore winced. Damn. She had totally forgot the Annabel knew about Edgar from when they were kids.Lenore and Annabel had been best friends,and while Annabel's memories of Edgar where foggy at best, it was evident she never quite forgot about Lenore's strange older brother.

“Who?” Eddie asked, leaning over to Annabel to make sure everyone knew that he was only talking to Annabel, goddamn Lenore hated when he did that. Why couldn’t Eddie just ask her? It was totes obvi that Lenore knew what Annabel was talking about, so why not ask Lenore? It totally pissed her off. “My brother.” Lenore answered him, her voice just a few shades away from a growl. God she didn’t like Eddie. He was way shady and always trying to set Lenore up with his brother. Hello? Lenore had way better things to worry about then Eddie’s lame brother. Lenore composed herself.

“He’s my brother. He’s ,uh, kinda going through a rough time, You know? I just thought I was needed and the move was kinda needed so…” Lenore let the train of thought go and prayed the conversation topic would go with it. But unfortunately it would seem that her friends weren’t that cooperative.

“And you uprooted your life because you were  _needed_?” Charlotte asked with a raised eyebrow. Lenore gave her a dark look in return.

“Yes.”

“Because you don’t have any other family?”

“Yes.” Lenore answered Charlotte’s question with gritted teeth. God, they were having such a great time before this too. Everyone was laughing, making jokes, getting Lenore up to date on all the drama and happenings, she was having a fabulous time. Why couldn’t they just go back to that and trust Lenore would spill the goods when she was ready? Not that Lenore wanted to do that ever, given the tragic circumstances that caused her to move in with her brother and away from her friends, but they didn’t know that.

“You know I think that’s kinda selfish of your brother.” Eddie declared. Lenore’s eyes narrowed into slits as she tried to shoot Eddie a warning look of “Don’t go there, asswhipe” but as usual Eddie ignored anyone’s opinion but his own. “I mean, to totally turn your life around because he’s having a ‘rough time’? What kind of self respecting adult lets their younger sibling do that for them? I know I would never need Guy to take care of me because of my alleged ‘rough time’” Eddie huffed.

If Lenore could pick one person sitting at that dinner table to kill, Eddie wouldn’t even get a proper burial.

“Alleged?” Lenore repeated. Eddie seemed to realize what a fucking ass he was being.

“I didn’t mean to imply-”

“Alleged.” Lenore said before knocking back the rest of her drink. Fuck it. She tried to respect Edgar’s privacy, tried not to tie down her friends with her family drama, but fuck it. If they wanted to be nosy, then why even bother?

“I think having your  _wife_   _die_  at home would qualify as a rough time, don’t you  _think **Eddie**_?” Lenore asked with just enough acid to make Eddie cringe. Lenore didn’t get enough time to revel in Eddie’s shame because then Lenore heard Annabel gasp and what she just said dawned on her.

Oh fuck.

Lenore sighed. This wasn’t how her night was supposed to go. They all sat in silence for just a moment while Lenore composed herself.

“I am so, so sorry for your loss.” H.G quietly but sincerely said. Lenore jumped a bit. God she forgot he was even there he had been so quiet all night. Lenore swallowed. She couldn’t say anything but she managed to nod in acknowledgement.

“I didn’t even know he got married.” Annabel said. Lenore turned to look at her. Oh, she looked so sad and surprised and out of the loop. Just like Lenore had when Edgar and Virginia finally told her that Virginia was sick.

“Yeah. Um, right out of high school actually. Well, Virginia did, right out of high school, cause Edgar had already graduated, but yeah. Uh, they started dating only a few years after you moved. Crazy right?” Lenore rambled to Annabel in a significantly brighter tone. Remembering the good things about Virginia and Edgar and Lenore’s relationship with Edgar was always so much better then remembering the bad. Lenore would never forget the wedding. There had only been five people, Lenore, Edgar, Virginia, Virginia’s mom and Virginia’s brother. It was an insane night of everyone panicking and trying to time this barely put together wedding just right so the happy couple could make the airplane for their honeymoon in Virginia. Jesus, Lenore was getting ‘lost in her head’ as her brother helpfully called it. Whatever.

“How  _dreadful_! I can’t imagine how awful it must be! If you need  _anything_ , anything at all, do let me know” Oscar said in a typical Oscar fashion. Lenore was once again at a loss for words and could only nod.

“Terrible indeed! It’s no wonder you haven’t been yourself. I don’t know what I’d do if my sister died.I'd be at an absolute loss,Lenore,darling,my condolences. May I ask how she passed?” Charlotte asked. Lenore felt her stomach knot.

“Um, she was sick. I don’t know all the details, uh, Edgar, and I weren’t really besties when she was sick and didn’t really talk. And when we did talk no one wanted to talk about that, I mean who would? And I didn’t know how bad her...passing, was for Edgar until recently...my brother’s always been kind of a hermit I guess but the man was getting his groceries delivered to him and he hadn’t left his house in three months. I kinda figured someone needed to get him out of his funk. Now, that Virginia’s gone he doesn’t have a lot of...well, people, you know?” Lenore rambled and though her friends nodded she could tell they really didn’t know. Edgar hadn’t left his house in what was closer to nine months now. With the exception of when he went on a four day bender, wandered the streets, tried to kill himself, and got locked away in a hospital room where the staff then called her. His only living family. How could she say no? She and Edgar were never really super close but Lenore still cared about him and she knew Edgar still cared about her. He told her he wanted to die in a moment of weakness and Lenore realized then how terrified she was of that happening. She didn’t want to be alone the same way Edgar didn’t. So, she moved in with him. Now, neither of them would be alone.

“Lenore?” Annabel asked in her sweet and innocent voice. Lenore pushed away her thoughts of her and Edgar's.Tonight was about her friends and bringing them into her new life.

“Can we change the subject guys? This is supes depressing and I came out here to get away from that. Oscar, tell me about that new vintage shop that you’ve been posting about, it looks amaze”

And like that Lenore forgot about what was waiting for her at home.


	2. Dinner with Destitution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lenore gets home from dinner with her friends. Edgar literally hasn't moved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry if Lenore seems ooc, she keeps coming out more serious when i'm writing and it fits the setting of the story so i just left it

“I’m home!” Lenore called into the big, empty house that Edgar had inherited from their parents. Her voice echoed and cut through the silence.

Lenore frowned. Her stomach knotted with anxiety.

There usually was some sort of noise. 

Lenore always made sure there was some sort of noise.

A television, a radio, even Caterina roaming the halls were comforting for Lenore. She did everything in her power to combat the silence that was always threatening to choke the house.

“Edgar?” Lenore called again.

No reply.

Lenore quickly made her way up the stairs.

There were three places Edgar might be: The actual study, his bedroom, and the attic bedroom aka his study, which Edgar typically used due to the actual study belonging to their father when he was alive. Edgar only really went in there to read.

Lenore checked his bedroom and the actual study before reluctantly making her way up to the attic bedroom.

Now Lenore actually liked the attic. she first moved in, she cleaned it out, moved all the dusty boxes and crap into the cellar, and set it up to be all nice and welcoming and unlike the rest of the house.

The actual attic was Lenore’s place.

The attic bedroom was Edgar’s.

The house was a billion years old and had an entire separate stairway to get up into the attic. It kinda reminded Lenore of apartment stairwells. There was a flight of stairs that went all the way up to a small platform with a door on the right wall. That room was the attic bedroom. Lenore had memories of when she was little her mother explaining to her that back when the house was first built, the maid would sleep in there. That was the room Edgar converted to be his “workplace’.

To the left of the platform, there was a small flight of stairs that went up into the attic.

While Lenore wished was taking a left and going into her space, she turned right and opened the door.

The room was dank, dark, and didn’t have electricity so lit candles occupied every nook and cranny.

Edgar was sitting at his desk, facing away from the door, with Caterina happily draped across his shoulders.

“Edgar how long have you been sitting there?” Lenore asked.

Edgar’s head turned slightly at the sound of his sister’s voice but he didn’t turn around.

“Only since you left” He replied in a serious tone.

Lenore suppressed a frustrated groan. 

“Ok, for starters, I left _5 hours ago,_ Edgar. You can’t just sit here in the dark for _5 hours_. Second, have you eaten? I totally told you to heat up the soup from last night. Did you do it?”

Lenore took Edgar’s silence for a no.

“Oh my god, you are an _actual_ five year old. Ok, c’mon Edgar, let’s get dinner in you.” Lenore ordered, stomping to the side of the desk and pulling her brother out of the chair. Caterina jumped from Edgar’s shoulder’s to his desk. Edgar scooped to cat up and cradled her.

“Despite what you may believe I am not a child Lenore. And I don’t need you to treat me like one.” Edgar stated. 

Lenore took advantage of the room’s dark lighting and rolled her eyes.

“That’s why you’re still in here and haven’t fed yourself all day?” Lenore asked, arching a manicured eyebrow.

Edgar seemed to get embarrassed.

“I realize I let time...slip away for a bit, but it would be hypocritical of you to suggest that you don’t do the same occasionally.” Edgar pointed out.

Lenore groaned and marched out of the room with a grumbling Edgar and a purring Caterina following after her.

“Yeah, Ok Jan. _When_ was the last time I did that?” Lenore shot back, hurrying down the steps. She wanted to get as far away from Edgar’s 'study' as she could. That place was _totally_ creepy and smelled kinda like bird poop.

Edgar didn’t have a bird.

Or maybe he did and was just really good at hiding it.

He always did have a thing for ravens.

“Um. Last Thursday? When you were having a project runway marathon?” Edgar reminded her.

Lenore felt her cheeks turn pink.

_ Well played brother _ , Lenore thought,  _ well played _ .

“Whatever. Can you get the soup out? I’ll turn the stove on.” Lenore muttered, cursing the lack of microwave in the house for the billionth time.

Edgar grunted in acknowledgement and set Caterina down.

Lenore stared at her brother for a good minute.

It didn’t occur to her until just then that she maybe should be curious about what her brother was writing about in his study.

She knows he was writing because that’s all he ever does in there.

Edgar uses certain rooms for specific things.

Like how the attic bedroom was for writing, the actual study was for reading and the music room for for grieving.

Lenore wondered, again, what he was writing about.

“What?” Edgar asked.

Lenore started and realized she’d been caught staring. She muttered something and turned back to the task at hand.

Lenore decided not to worry about it tonight. 

He’d probably tell her about his new project soon enough.

Lenore heated up the soup, reminded Edgar to blow out the candles in his study, and soon after crawled into bed.

Today had been exhausting.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave a comment if it so pleases you, the next chapter will focus more on Lenore and Annabel


	3. Dinner with Desperation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annabel is in charge of the guest list.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this happened.

“Lenore?”  
“Annabel? What are you doing calling this late?” Lenore asked. Ok, it was only nine, but still. Lenore was about to hunker down and watch season five of “America’s next top model” for the fiftieth time.  
“I was thinking about your problem. With Edgar.” Annabel timidly answered and Lenore let out a dramatic sigh.  
God no.  
She’d nearly managed to put it out of her mind.  
“Anna Banana, you know I love you, but I’m starting to think “Operation get my brother to socialize-with-someone-who-is-not-his-cat will have to be marked a failure.” Lenore replied.  
Edgar still hasn’t left his house in the month and a half Lenore has been staying with him.  
Lenore, really needing someone to talk to, had called Annabel and ranted for a hour or two while.  
While Lenore had felt significantly better after doing so, Lenore was faced with another problem: now Annabel was worried about both Lenore and Edgar.  
Hence the birth of ‘Operation get Edgar out of the house’.   
So far it’s mostly consisted of Lenore inviting Edgar places and Edgar stuttering out weak ass excuses and locking himself up in his study.  
“You can’t give up Lenore! I think I have a really great idea of how to get around Edgar leaving the house!” Annabel exclaimed.  
Lenore held back a groan.   
While she wasn’t interested in wasting more energy to try and provoke Edgar’s non-existent social appetite, She couldn’t help but give in to Annabel’s enthusiasm.  
“Ok. Shoot.” Lenore grumbled into the phone.  
Lenore dragged herself into the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee. She had a feeling she would need it.  
Annabel’s happy squeak made it worth it.  
“So I was thinking, If we can’t get your brother out of the house to get on the social scene-” Annabel started.  
“Uh-huh” Lenore responded, taking a sip of her piping hot coffee.  
“We should bring the social scene to your house!” Annabel exclaimed.  
Lenore choked on her coffee.  
Oh no.  
“Uh. Anna-Banana, not that that’s not a good idea or anything-” Lenore started, only to be cut off by her bestie.  
“No really, listen Lenore, it makes total sense! He won’t have to be out of his comfort zone-”  
“Being with people period is out of his comfort zone”Lenore grumbled to herself.  
That did not deter Annabel.  
“We could do something simple! Like, um, maybe just a movie night, or a wireless get together with coffee and doughnuts type thing-”  
Lenore wasn’t sure whether it was Annabel’s rambling or hr burt tongue that caused her lightning-bolt-of-creativity to shock her in the ass.  
“Or a dinner party.” Lenore gasped.  
“Oooh! That would be so fun! And you guys actually have a dining room! Lenore this will be so fun!” Annabel cheered.  
While Lenore really, really wanted to get her hopes up with the idea, she knew she had to be practical and through in order for her to pull it off.  
“Ok. While yeah, that would be totes dope, we need to think about how we’d realistically pull it off. Like, who’d we invite?” Lenore asked. She thought is a reasonable enough question.  
“Oh! Well, we could invite H.G, and Oscar and Charlotte, oh! And Eddie of course,” Annabel listed.  
“I’m gonna stop you right there. No way” Lenore replied.  
“Why? What’s wrong with them?” asked a genuinely surprised Annabel.  
Lenore made a noise that was a combination of a sigh and a groan.  
“There’s nothing wrong with them, per say, it’s just...we should invite people Edgar would like.Otherwise, what’s the point?”Lenore covered.   
Lenore didn’t claim to be any kind of expert on her brother, but she knew that he wouldn’t enjoy Eddie’s company anymore then Lenore did.  
“Why wouldn’t he like them? H.G is similarly introverted, Oscar is creative and Charlotte is ambitious! And who was it that described Edgar in those three words?” Annabel needled.  
Both girls ignored the lack of Eddie on the list.  
“It was me.” Lenore admitted reluctantly. “What about that girl you work work with? Erma? Ellis?” Lenore guessed.  
“Emily?” Annabel said in a exasperated tone.  
Oops. Lenore always forgot that girls name.  
“Yeah. Her. She seems...sweet.” Lenore replied.  
“She is, and she likes poetry a lot. She’s probably get along really well with your brother. What about Mary Ann? She’s pretty low key.” Annabel added.  
“Uh, I wouldn’t really call ‘George Eliot’ low key but whatevs, add her to the list. Mary has that kinda ‘emo hard living goth chick’ vibe going, Edgar would at least be totally into her aesthetic.” Lenore supplied.  
“You’re going to have to let the George Eliot thing go at some point Lenore. What about Louisa and Fyodor? They’d probably really appreciate the invitation!”Annabel said.  
The last name made Lenore pause.  
“Isn’t Fyodor a recovering alcoholic?” Lenore asked.  
“Um, I think so.”  
“Do you think it’s a good idea to have one recovering alcoholic and another hangout together?”  
“It might give them something to bond over! Besides, it's not like we’re going to be serving alcohol at the party!” Annabel insisted.  
Lenore conceded that she had a point.  
“Anyone else we should add before I hang up?” Lenore asked, dumping her now cold coffee in the sink.  
“Um, What about Agatha and Ernest? They’re nice!” Annabel chirped.  
Lenore sighed for the millionth time over the course of the phone call.  
“Yeah,ok, fine. You’re in charge of the invite list, I’ll get a menu and clean the place. Let me know if there’s any weird diet restrictions. Never mind, tell them it’s a dinner party potluck. “ Lenore stated.  
Annabel sweetly gave her consent.  
Lenore groaned.  
She has so much planning to do.


	4. Dinner with Determination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Guest Arrive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry if this seems kind of spacey, I'm not the best at dealing with large groups of characters, but I'm going to try my best here. let me know whether you think real murders should happen or drama and characterization cause it could go either way right now.

The house was finally clean.  
Lenore had spent all week getting it ready for this very night.  
A whole week of dusting,vacuuming,polishing, sorting,tossing things out, bringing things in, buying groceries at a actual grocery store because no matter how tempting Lenore refused to stoop to her brother’s level.  
She had to air out so many room, wash so many floors, keep so many secrets from her brother, who was wondering what in blazes was wrong with Lenore that she was actually cleaning.  
The excuse of “I just can’t live like this anymore!” seemed to tide Edgar over.  
Lenore supposed because it was true. She had been complaining about the lack of cleanliness in the house since the day she moved in.  
Unfortunately, the front lawn and porch was still a disaster.  
Lenore was so busy with cleaning and cooking and avoiding telling her brother about the dinner party she just didn’t have time.  
Why, Lenore wondered, did she let Annabel talk her into making this a Murder Mystery Dinner Party (slash potluck for friends only)?  
Then Lenore remembered.  
Because Edgar would be totally into it.  
In fact, he might be so engaged with the murder mystery, he might just forget that Lenore totally violated his trust by inviting all these people.  
So yeah,Yay! Murder Mystery!  
Annabel was a godsend.  
Annabel had always been crazy good at crafts and such, so she handmade all the invites, all the decorations, and bought the clue inspired murder mystery live action game.  
Lenore hadn’t actually really looked into the game, but Annabel insisted it’d be totally fun and totally immersive. It even let you customize your character cards!  
Lenore and Annabel split that job in half.  
Lenore was proud to say that only half of her character cards were with dumb names and petty bios.  
And now, after all that hard work, Lenore was almost done.  
She had made autumn bouillabaisse stew, though she and Annabel had decided to dub it as “red herring” soup just for shits and giggles, She was wearing a beautiful vintage wedding gown she got for 25$ at this old shop that Lenore and Virginia had both liked, and everyone who was invited RSVP’d, though Agatha did mention she’d be late.  
Lenore even put a new ribbon around Caterina's neck.  
“Who’s the prettiest kitty?” Lenore murmured to the purring cat in her arms.  
The doorbell rang and Lenore rushed forth, praying Edgar wouldn’t pay the doorbell too much attention yet.  
Lenore flung it open, fully expecting it to be her bff, and instead finding Ernest Hemingway in a old suit standing in her door way.  
“Lenore!You’re lookin good. Nice cat.” Ernest remarked before showing himself in.  
Lenore was so surprised that it was indeed not Annabel at the door she failed to think of anything to say.  
“You said this was a potluck,right?” Ernest asked in his irritating yet endearing macho-man way.  
That’s when Lenore remembered the party and noticed the crockpot Ernest was holding.  
“Uh,yeah. Yeah, it is. Didn’t you read the invite? Hello? Follow, me I’ll show you the kitchen.” Lenore barked.  
Ernest swaggered his way into the kitchen and set his crockpot down on the counter.  
“What is that?” Lenore asked, putting Caterina down by her feet. The cat happily wove herself between Lenore’s legs and purred.  
“Its boar potroast. Went hunting this last weekend.No big deal” Ernest answered in a way that heavily implied it was a big deal.  
The doorbell rang again.  
“Oh!Uh, wait here! I’ll show you where the dining room is in one minute, don’t go anywhere!” Lenore hurried out of the kitchen to answer the door.  
Once again, it was not Annabel, as Lenore had guessed it was.  
“Louisa May! It's good to see you, come in!” Lenore snapped with little patience as she shoved her friend through the door. It was a bit hard to go fast considering Lenore was wearing a wedding dress and Louisa was wearing a dress that looked like it belonged in the 1800s.  
“It’s nice to see you too Lenore!” Louisa gasped as Lenore dragged her to the kitchen.  
“You have a lovely home!”  
“It’s not my house, It’s my brother’s, what’d you bring?” Lenore questioned as they arrived in the kitchen, where Ernest appeared to be smelling his switch blade.  
Lenore gave him a weird look and he put away his blade completely unabashed.  
“Uh, I brought a homemade blend of tea leaves. For tea.”Louisa beamed.  
“That’s great Louisa. Let me show you guys the dining room…” Lenore asserted and shoved both of them into aforementioned dining room.  
The doorbell rang again.  
“I’ll be right back!” Lenore called behind her as she scurried to the door.  
She flung it open to find Mary Shelley.  
Once again, someone who wasn’t Annabel.  
Mary looked unamused and fierce as usual. Her dress was pretty old fashioned, but the champagne color with black lace over it tipped Lenore off as a modern creation.  
Lenore found it odd that Mary was the third person at this party to show up dressed in vintagey clothes.  
“Well Mary Shelley as I live and breathe! How’s Perce doin’?” Lenore asked,slightly out of breath.  
“Which one?” Mary asked dryly.  
That’s when Lenore recalled Mary’s newest baby was named Percy, after her husband.  
“Booooooth?” Lenore responded.  
Mary’s expression didn’t change.  
She replied right as Lenore was about ask about the dress code. Did Annabel specify to dress in vintage or was it a coincidence?  
“I brought some tortilla's. I apologize for the lack of anything else, my invitation arrived only yesterday.” Mary stated.  
Lenore assured her it was fine and led her to the dining room.  
The doorbell rang the moment Mary stepped into the dining room.  
“Uh, just hang here, Ernest can you put Mary’s tortilla's in the kitchen for me? Thanks!” Lenore rushed out as she made a beeline for the door.  
She opened it and surprise!  
It wasn’t Annabel.  
“Lenore,sweetie, so good to see you! The house is quie bigger than I expected!” Charlotte commented, peering behind Lenore and gazing at the house.  
She was wearing a vintage-style green dress that remained modern enough for Charlotte’s extravagant taste.  
“Did you bring booze?” Lenore balked at the bottle Charlotte was holding.  
“Oh god no! I’m not that insensitive! It’s sparkling cider. Is this going to take very long Lenore?” Charlotte asked, before pushing her way inside in a Charlotte typical fashion.  
Lenore scowled at her friends antics but didn’t have time to really get angry.  
There was an odd rapping on the door and Lenore knew yet another guest had arrived.  
“The dining room is through there,be right back!” Lenore said, pointing Charlotte in the direction of the dining room.  
She flew to the door and thrust it open.  
Oscar stood there,dramatically posing, and with an actual cane.  
“Oh my god you’re so extra” Lenore mumbled.  
“What was that? Oh never mind! You look ravishing darling!” Oscar complemented Lenore.  
“Oh wow! You look great too! Very...Oscar.” Lenore answered.  
“One can never be overeducated...or overdressed.” Oscar replied, chuckling as he made his way inside the house.  
Lenore was about to close the door when she spotted someone else making their way up the pathway.  
“H.G!” Lenore called, recognizing the man struggling to carry a….microwave?  
“Lenore! Thank you for inviting me! This is for you!” H.G exclaimed as he clumsily handed Lenore the microwave.  
Lenore grunted and attempted to shift the machine into a more comfortable position.  
“You really didn’t have to do that,H.G” Lenore squeaked.  
“Think of it as a housewarming gift! I also brought home baked bread!” H.G replied.  
Lenore slowly but surely made her way to the kitchen, H.G following behind, and dropped the microwave next to Ernest’s crock pot the second she could.  
H.G cheerfully handed Lenore his home made bread (which was burnt on the top but the thought was sweet) and Lenore stored it away. Maybe she could use it for the soup?  
The doorbell rang and Lenore quickly gave H.G directions to the dining room before answering the door.  
Lenore opened the door and strangely enough, didn’t see anyone standing there.  
Lenore peered around and then shrugged.  
Must have been her imagination going haywire aftering hearing the doorbell so many times.  
“Uh,Hi.” a voice said behind her.  
Lenore whirled around.  
“Who said that?” Lenore asked.  
“Uh, I did?” the voice replied.  
That’s when Lenore noticed the mousy looking girl dressed in a seriously unflattering 1800’s dress standing over to the side of the door.  
“Oh. Hi. You’re Annabel’s friend...uh..”Lenore stalled.  
Oh god she totally forgot this girl’s name again.  
“Uh…”  
Was it Effie? Ella? Edna?  
“Emily?” The girl supplied.  
Lenore’s shoulders sagged with release.  
“Yeah! The girl who likes....um…”  
Lenore once again totally blanked on every piece of information her best friend had offered about this girl.  
“Poetry?” The girl, Emily, once again saved Lenore from looking like a total idiot.  
“Yes! Right! My brother is a poet, you know.” Lenore offered.  
The girl gave her a awkward smile.  
“Yes, Annabel mentioned. I write poems amateurly, actually.” Emily offered.  
“Right. Cool Beans.” Lenore said, nodding.  
Emily nodded back and they were trapped in a super awkward silence that Lenore desperately wanted to break.  
“You know you could be really pretty.” Lenore suddenly said.  
Emily looked like she didn’t know whether to be offended or not.  
“Anyways, did you bring anything?” Lenore asked.  
“Apple pie?” Emily replied.  
She had a way of saying everything like it was a question and it was slowly grating on Lenore’s nerves.  
“Cool. Uh, the dining room’s that way.” Lenore told her, jerking her thumb in the direction of the dining room and stepping aside so the girl could come in.  
Lenore went outside and sat on the steps, waiting for the next guest.  
And like magic, Mary Ann came up the pathway.  
And oh god she was in her George Eliot get up.  
“Mary Ann seriously?” Lenore groaned.  
“The names Eliot. George Eliot. Two male names, easy to remember.You’ve seemingly confused me with some sort of damsel. I understand, I have very soft skin.” ‘George Eliot’ replied in a obviously fake deep voice, stroking her equally obviously false mustache.  
“Really?” Lenore deadpanned.  
Her friend gave up the false seriousness and broke into a grin.  
“Oh c’mon, Lenny! Lighten up! I brought sugar cookies!” Mary Ann announced.  
Lenore bit back a smirk and waved her friend in.  
Five minutes later a huge man stomped his way up the pathway.  
“Hello.” Fyodor greeted in a thick russian accent.  
“Hey.” Lenore replied, not standing up.  
“I had forgotten to bring a dish” Fyodor admitted.  
“That's cool. Dining room’s to the left.” Lenore gestured to the door.  
Fyodor made his way to the front door.  
“Wait.” Lenore stopped him.  
Fyodor paused.  
“Uh, do you think I could take a peek at your invite? It’s super important.” Lenore asked.  
Fyodor nodded and dug in his coat pocket for what seemed like forever.  
Finally he handed Lenore his invitation and went inside.  
Lenore eagerly started to read it.  
She had never actually gotten a chance to look at the invitations, being so busy with cleaning up the house. She wondered what she would find out from it.  
The invitation read like this:

_Welcome friends, to Lenore Rosalie Poe’s Murder Mystery Dinner Party/Potluck (for friends only gala)_   
_The evening of the 21st will be one of mystery, intrigue and murder, with a side of delectable dishes brought by our guest._   
_Bring your appetite for murder and food!_   
_Old and Vintage clothing of the time frame 1850-1940 would be appropriate but not mandatory._   
_The party will be held at Lenore’s lovely new house which she shares with her brother. Please be respectful of their property and please don't bring alcoholic beverages, as this will be sober evening. Hope to see you there!_

Lenore finished reading. She didn’t know what else she was expecting. Anna-Banana to start talking shit about her on the invite?  
Lenore scoffed.  
She was acting crazy.  
Annabel was her best friend and possibly the sweetest person on the entire planet.  
Lenore knew this. She was letting Annabel’s current tardiness get to her.  
Lenore was positive she would be at the house soon.  
And with that Lenore entered the house.  
She could here her guest chattering in the dining room and resolved to join them.  
A meow momentarily distracted her.  
Lenore looked down and saw Caterina, who evidently was starved for attention. Lenore smiled and scooped the cat up, kissing her ears while she was at it, and made her way into the dining room.  
“Dearest Guest!” Lenore boomed, effectively cutting through the chit chat. Her guest quieted down. “Welcome to my dinner party!” Lenore announced.  
There was a slight cheer amongst the guest before it quieted down again.  
“So how this is going to work is right now you’ll all be seated where you’re placecards have been set. There are envelopes underneath the placecards and those are your character cards for the evening. If you’ll all have a seat and get familiar with your cards, I’m going to go see if my brother is ready.” Lenore stated.  
“Uh, my card say’s I’m a duchess,and seeing that I have absolutely no insight to the mind of a women, I was wondering if anyone would be willing to trade.” Mary Ann asked.  
“Ok, so no trading, that’s not a thing. Any other question?” Lenore asked impatiently.  
“Lenore, I love my character, but I did make a few tweaks. Can I run these by you...tomorrow?” Charlotte asked.  
“Ok now you’re just being petty. No. No tweaking characters. Stop.” Lenore said.  
After a moment of silence Lenore concluded that her friends were done making things 1000% harder than they needed to be.  
Before Lenore could make her excuses and drag Edgar to his doom, a voice came out behind her.  
“Sorry that we’re late!” Annabel’s sweet voice called.  
Lenore turned to face her.  
Annabel looked stunning,as usual, in a pale blue dress. Standing next to her was Eddie ad behind her was someone Lenore had never seen before.  
Speaking of friends making things harder than they needed to be.  
Lenore tried not to get pissed about the fact Annabel brought two plus one’s.  
“It’s my fault Lenore,” Eddie excused, “on our way I suggested to Annabel that we pick up my brother,Guy, and bring him along.” Eddie gestured to the handsome man standing behind him.  
“Hi, Guy De Vere. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Guy said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.  
Ok.  
Now Lenore was pissed.  
“Annabel, you do know what plus one means right?” Lenore asked.  
Annabel flushed.  
Before she could respond, Guy interrupted.  
“Please, don’t be upset with Annabel or Eddie. If it’s too much trouble I can leave.” Guy offered,looking slightly embarrassed. Eddie just looked put out.  
Lenore glanced around the room.In Lenore’s eyes, they all were sympathetic to Guy, the same way they were sympathetic to his brother. It would be super rude to just kick out Guy in front of them and would totally throw off the vibes for the night.  
“No,it’s fine. I’m sure we can make room.” Lenore answered in a clipped tone.  
Lenore set Caterina down and the cat made her way out of the room.  
Lenore led Annabel to her seat, followed by Eddie and Guy.  
She had the seating arrangements set very specifically.  
Annabel was going to be sitting to the right of Edgar, who was sitting to one end of the table.  
Eddie, was sitting in between Oscar and Fyodor.  
“Wait right here while I get a extra chair. For Guy. Who wasn’t invited. After that we can enjoy dinner and get on with the murder mystery.” Lenore announced with a flourish and exited the room.  
She was so lost in thought as to where she was going to get the chair, she didn’t notice the figure on the stair well.  
“Lenore.” said a voice Lenore knew well.  
Lenore gulped.  
She spun around to find her brother staring at her from the bottom of the stairs, Caterina draped around his shoulder and purring contently.  
“Who are these people are why are they in my house?” Edgar asked in a deadly serious tone.  
That was the moment Lenore knew: She fucked up.


End file.
